


forget all the shooting stars and silver moons

by itotallyreadthatbook



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Demigods, Group chat, High School, M/M, Nico is a Dork, Texting, Will is just bored and hates geography, Writing on table, solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 09:41:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12814806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itotallyreadthatbook/pseuds/itotallyreadthatbook
Summary: Will Solace is bored in Geography, so he doodles on his desk. During French an hour later, Nico di Angelo is confused as to why there are multiple unidentifiable drawings on his desk, so he writes back to the artist.Both of them don't know the other, but a conversation starts and Nico and Will find themselves talking to each other.Eventually, the truth comes out.





	forget all the shooting stars and silver moons

**Author's Note:**

> hey everyone! I have been working on this for a few days now. Midterms are next week and I'm dying. So naturally, I'm procrastinating by writing fics.  
> The whole drawing-on-tables thing happened to me too. One day, I was sitting in maths when I discovered weird doodles and I thought to myself: what the hell is this? I responded to it, but I haven't been to that classroom since. I wonder if it's still there. Anyway, because of those events, I decided to write a fic about it. Enjoy!  
> (i didn't proofread this sorry for the mistakes)

Will is bored out of his mind. Geography is not his favourite class he’s ever taken, for several reasons.

One, he sits alone in the back. None of his friends take this class and when the teacher gave them assigned seats he wasn’t paying attention. So now he’s stuck in the back.

Two, geography can be hard, like, almost impossible. They often get loads of homework, Will is terrible with an atlas and he always zones out during lectures so he doesn’t really remember anything.

That brings him to number three: the teacher is boring. Surely, geography would be doable with a normal teacher, but no, he just had to get the worst teacher on earth. Mr D is can never the student’s names, he’s always late -- if he even shows up -- and is just a jackass in general. He doesn’t care, and it’s the worst.

 

Right now, he’s explaining something about India and why there are so many big cities, blah blah blah. It’s not that Will doesn’t care, it’s just that it is boring when Mr D talks about it.

Also, it’s the second to last period. After this, he only has biology and then he’s done for the day.

 

Then Will notices that something is written on his desk, that's hopefully not directed to him.

_ Are you stupid or something _

Someone else has replied:  _ Yes! _ , with a circle around the word.

Will chuckles when he sees it. The idea of people really writing this down was just funny to him. It also made him curious. Who are these people? Do they know each other? Are they friends? Probably not. But that would be cool.

He begins the doodle. A small heart, a cactus, a small piece of watermelon. All very detailed, if you ask him.

The period is almost over when he finishes his doodles. When the bell rings, he shoves his book in his bag and makes his way to the other side of the school where he has biology.

 

*****   
*****   
  


Nico loves French a lot, mostly because it is fairly easy for him. He speaks fluent Italian and he takes Latin courses. Spanish is like a mix between those languages. Even though he’s dyslexic, Nico has always loved languages, he doesn’t really know why. English can sometimes still be a problem, but with his uncontrollable love for reading, he has become better at it over the years.

“For the test, you need to respond to several emails,” his teacher tells him. “One of them is from a forum, the other is from a friend in Europe.”

With the test coming up next week, the class is nervous. Everyone is afraid to fail. And the first French test of the year is always the hardest, older students claim.

 

Despite all those reasons to pay extra attention to class, Nico’s mind wanders. And suddenly he notices the scribbles at the end of his desk. Apparently, some people wrote to each other and he also spots some doodles added by someone else. He can’t quite make out what they are. The first is obviously a heart, but what is the next? It looks kind of like a cactus, but it could also be a badly drawn glove or ice cream with sprinkles. Nico looks around the room to see if the teacher is watching him. When he has confirmed she is not, he carefully takes out his phone and takes a picture of the doodles. He sends it to the group chat.

 

_ ghost king has sent a picture to “shut the fuck up percy” _

 

**ghost king:** guys what is the second drawing? a cactus, a weird glove or ice cream with sprinkles

 

After he’s sent it, he scans the classroom again. The teacher is gone, maybe she is copying something? When he picks up his phone he already has several responses.

 

**fire boi:** I’d say that’s a glove

**beauty queen:** dumbass that’s obviously a cactus

**owls are amazing:** cactus

**fire boi:** annabeth why do you hate me

**kelpface:** that’s a glove with ice and spikes from a cactus

**amazhang:** that’s a cactus. how do you guys see a glove in this?

**a literal gem:** I can kind of see where the glove thing comes from

**blond superman:** cactus

**ghost king:** that’s what I thought. but it also looks like a glove, don’t you think??

**fire boi:** YES THANK YOU NICO

**owls are amazing:** where did the ice come from?

**amazhang:** also is no one gonna discuss percy’s answer

**beauty queen:** shit u right

**a literal gem:** I think we had already established that percy is kinda weird?

**kelpface:** hazel why must you hurt me like this

**ghost king:** tone it down jackson

**blond superman:** so what are you going to do?

**ghost king:** what do you want me to do? write back?

**beauty queen:** yes

**ghost king:** i was being sarcastic

**fire boi:** but it would be fun

**amazhang:** writing on school property isn’t “fun”

**a literal gem:** true

**amazhang:** it’s only fun when you don’t get caught

**a literal gem:** oh. I guess??

**owls are amazing:** another example that frank has entered the scheming side of our group

**ghost king:** who, exactly, are in the scheming side?

**fire boi:** we’re getting off topic. write something on the desk nico!!

**ghost king:** like what?

**blond superman:** idk

**beauty queen:** “hey what the everloving fuck is this”

**kelpface:** “you can’t draw for shit”

**amazhang:** or you could be nice?? you know like normal people

**a literal gem:** another example that frank is back on our side

**a literal gem:** the good side™

**ghost king:** im going to write something. also the period is over. see you at lunch losers

**kelpface:** WHAT DID YOU WRITE DON’T GO

**ghost king:** bye

 

Turns out, writing on a table was hard. But Nico managed to write (after several attempts):  _ “hey what is this?” _

He hopes he didn’t offend the drawer.

 

*****   
*****   
  
“What the fuck is this…” Will mumbles when he sees his desk the next afternoon. He has geography again and is sitting at the same desk as yesterday. Only something has changed. More words are added to the scribbles.

“What do they mean, ‘what is this’! It is a perfectly clear drawing.” Will grumbles as he furiously writes back  _ “that’s a cactus you uncultured piece of shit” _ . Maybe not the nicest thing he could have done, but he is angry. He is so caught up in writing back that he doesn’t notice the kids that sit in front of him staring at him.

 

*****   
*****

 

_ “that’s a cactus you uncultured piece of shit” _ is not the answer Nico expects. But it is what the stranger has written.

_ “I’m sorry that me and my friends can’t make out what you drew, idiot” _ he writes back. The last week he has been looking forward to French class so he could see the answer, and the answer kind of disappointed him. Who is so mean to someone they’ve never met?

 

*****   
*****

 

“And how are you so sure he was trying to be mean?” Lou Ellen asks. “He could have been genuinely curious.”

Cecil scrunched up his nose. “Genuinely curious my ass. No one is  _ that _ innocent.” He takes a bit bite of his pasta.

Will shrugs. He shoves his food around on his plate. Cafeteria food at school never has a good quality. “I will await their response.”

Lou Ellen flips her pink hair out of her face. “You better be nice next time. Maybe you can even discover who it is.”

Will perks up. “That would be cool.”

“Maybe it’s a cleaner who likes to mess with high school students,” Cecil says. Lou Ellen smacks him on the arm.

“Don’t say that. You make it sound dirtier than it even is.”

Will snorts. “I don’t think it’s a cleaner, Cecil. I suspect it’s someone from the classes after me. I’ll just stay behind to see who’s after me. I only have to check the schedule for the classroom, so I can see who has the last period there. I know it is probably one of them.”   
Cecil smiles smugly. “You’ve got it all figured out. You learned from the best, of course.” He points at himself.

Will just rolls his eyes.

 

Next day, Will is in the classroom again. Before he goes to his seat, he takes a peek at the classroom schedule. On Thursday, the seventh period is geography. That’s his class. After that, there’s French.

Okay, so the person speaks French. Now Will can do something with that information. 

When he sits at his desk, he stares at the neat writing.  _ “I’m sorry that me and my friends can’t make out what you drew, idiot” _ it says. Will thinks of Lou Ellen’s words. Maybe the stranger used ‘idiot’ as a nickname and not to insult someone? He gives them the benefit of the doubt and writes something back.  _ “what did you think it was, then? (enjoy your French class)” _ . Yes, maybe it’s a little creepy, but hopefully the stranger won’t think it was too creepy.

 

*****   
*****   
  


**ghost king:** update: the stranger asks what we thought he’d drawn

**fire boi:** tell him it’s a glove

**ghost king:** will do, leo

 

*****   
*****

 

_ “some thought it was a glove. others suspected it might be a cactus. we were not completely wrong.” _

Will’s heart beats faster. He knew he wasn’t that terrible! Then he notices the p.s.:  _ “I haven’t forgotten about the heart you drew, you know. who are you trying to seduce? the cleaners?” _

Will laughs. One of the girls in front of him turns around. She has brown hair cut at an uneven length and eyes that sparkle.

“What are you laughing at? You’re always weird shit when you sit here,” she says. The other girl nudges her.

“Piper, it’s not nice to say things like that.” She has curly brown hair and dark skin. “I’m sure he’s just having a fun time.”   
Piper rolls her eyes. “Hazel, I know what I’m doing.” Hazel raises an eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that look. It may look on Jason, Percy and Nico, but not on me,” Piper says. “What are you even implying?”

“That you, of all people, definitely  _ not _ know what you’re doing,” Hazel says smugly.

Piper sighs. “I will neither confirm nor deny that statement.”

Will laughs. “You remind me of my friend Cecil.”

“Is he also funny and sarcastic?” Piper asks.

“Yep,” Will replies. “Even when he is about to die, he’d make a sarcastic comment.”

“We have a friend like that too, Percy,” Hazel says. “He’s even worse than Piper.” Suddenly she notices the writing on the desk. “What are you doing?” she asks.

“Uh, nothing.” Will blushes and quickly hides the writing by shoving his books on it. Piper’s eyes widen and she pokes Hazel in the ribs multiple times.

“What?” Hazel says. Piper points at Will’s table. “Oh. Oh my god.”

“What’s wrong?” Will asks.

“Nothing,” Hazel squeaks.

Piper narrows her eyes at him. “What’s your name?”   
“Will.”

She nods. “Okay. Thanks.” She turns and doesn’t look back, like this strange conversation wasn’t weird at all. Will decides to ignore it. He almost forgets to write back.

 

*****   
*****   
  
Nico doodles stars all over the table during French class. Bianca always used to do that. There were always stars drawn on her notebooks and homework. He hums a song he heard on the radio this morning.

_ You don’t have to say I love you to say I love you, forget all the shooting stars and all the silver moons. _

Nico writes the lyrics down next to all the stars he’s drawn. He doodles a moon next to the stars. Bianca used to love space, she was fascinated by it. She talked to Nico for hours about where certain constellations were and what they meant. She also knew a lot about Greek mythology so she had even more to tell about the stars.

 

_ “Artemis is my favourite. She is the twin sister of Apollo, he’s very nice too. But I like Artemis more because she has sworn off boys. Apollo didn’t do that, if you know what I mean.” Bianca winked at him. Nico laughed. He had just turned ten and adored her. She was his big sister, she would do anything for him! _

_ “And I also really like Athena because she’s so smart. And have you ever heard of Hestia?” Bianca asked. Nico shook his head. “Well, she is the nicest of the gods, believe me. She gave up her place in the Twelve Olympians so Dionysus could take it, because she thought he could do more good than her. A shame, really.” _

 

Nights of telling, whispering old Italian fairy tales in the dark and watching meteor showers came to an end when Bianca died in a car accident. They had lost their mother years ago, so Nico had to move in with his dad. Not the best years of his life, if he is honest.

 

Now, whenever he thinks of Bianca, he draws the moon and stars and all of space to keep her with him.

 

*****   
*****

 

Today is the day, Will decides. Today he’s going to find out who writes back to him.

The other days, he had been too nervous to wait and see. But he isn’t going to back out anymore.

There are stars on his table. It almost looks like a reverse sky, with the white background and the blue stars and moon. It looks beautiful. There’s written text, too. Will has no idea what it means, so he writes it in his planner to look it up later.

 

The whole period Will is bouncing in his seat. More than any day ever, he wants the class to end.

When the bell finally rings, he packs his books as slowly as possible. He walks out of the room and hides behind the door.

One after one, the students pass him and search for their seats in the room. His geography teacher goes to another room and the French teacher takes his place.

After a couple of minutes, there’s still no one sitting at Will’s desk. But then, minutes after the bell has rung, a small boy with fluffy dark hair and black skinny jeans rushes past him. He runs to his seat to get in before the teacher notices he’s late.

And he sits in Will’s seat. Will watches as the boy gets the books out of his bag and arranges his stuff. Then, after what feels like an eternity, he looks at the table. And he sees Will’s writing.

 

*****   
*****   
  
_ “I’m not trying to sound creepy, but if everything goes according to my plan, I’m standing in front of the classroom now. Could you wave if you see me?” _   
Nico’s breath hitches when he reads those words. They are here? Now? He isn’t sure he wants to look up, but after a moment he does.

A tall boy is staring at him. Blond hair, big blue eyes, freckles everywhere. Nico nervously waves. After a couple of seconds, the boy waves back.

Nico notices the boy kind of has a surfer-like vibe, but it suits him well. In an impulse, Nico raises his hand.

“Miss, can I go to the bathroom?” he asks. His teacher sighs.

“You could have gone when the bell rang, you know. But alright. But be back quickly,” she tells him. Nico nods before all but jumping out of his seat. The blond boy seems to be scared of him as he comes closer, but Nico gestures that he has to follow him to the toilets. Eventually, they stand in front of each other, awkwardly, without saying anything. Turns out, the other boy has more courage than Nico.

“Hi, I’m Will Solace,” he says. He adjusts his backpack.

“I’m Nico di Angelo,” Nico says. He can’t help but stare at Will.

Will smiles at him, and gods, it’s the most gorgeous thing Nico has ever seen. “Nice to finally see you in person, Nico. And am I really that bad of a drawer that you can’t even guess what my art is?” he smirks.

Nico rolls his eyes, though his lips quirk up a little. “If it wasn’t for your terrible skills, we wouldn’t be standing here. So you should thank yourself, really.”

Will laughs. “Never knew you were also a sarcastic little shit in person.”

“Says the guy dressed as a surfer.”   
“Hey! At least my emo phase is over,” Will teases. Nico just shakes his head.

“Being funny, now? Are you going to give me your number or do I need to wait here forever? I have a class to attend, you know,” he says.

“Oh, shit! I have biology now,” Will realises. “I hope this was worth missing class for.” He gets his phone from his pocket and hands it to Nico, who gives his phone to Will. They add their numbers to each other’s phones and make their way out of the toilets

“I’ll see you later?” Nico carefully asks. He is still afraid that this was all a big joke and Will doesn’t want to be friends.

But Will grins at him. “Fine by me, death boy.”

Nico gasps. “Don’t call me death boy!”

“Alright. See you later, sunshine!” With those words, Will Solace disappears to the third floor to attend biology. Nico rushes back to French. When the teacher scolds him for being late, it doesn’t bother him. He has a new friend, after all.

 

*****   
*****   
  
Nico has the faintest Italian accent. Barely there, but it’s clear enough for Will to hear. And he had a ring with a skull on it, which should be weird, but it’s actually really cute. Damn, everything about Nico is really cute. But there is still a big chance he is straight. Will sighs and drops his head on his desk. At this rate, he will never finish his homework.

He looks up when his phone pings.

 

**ghost king:** hey

**drama queen:** I’m guessing you’re Nico?

**ghost king:** yes, that’s me.

**drama queen:** what’s with the nickname?

**ghost king:** says the one who has an ever weirder nickname

**ghost king:** it started as a joke with my friends

**drama queen:** same with me. lou ellen and cecil always call me a drama queen, and since I want to be a doctor, this is what I settled on

**ghost king:** when i was younger, there was this game i played, mythomagic. it was my life back then. there was a character called the ghost king. leo, piper and percy never let it go

**drama queen:** wait, piper? does she have brown choppy hair and eyes with a million colours

**ghost king:** yes, that’s her

**drama queen:** omg she and this other girl saw me writing on the table last week

**ghost king:** who was the other girl?

**drama queen:** she had curly brown hair. her name was something with an h, if I remember correctly

**ghost king:** that’s hazel! she’s my half sister. they call me their friends and they didn’t even say anything… traitors

**drama queen:** you should pay them back for not telling

**ghost king:** do you have any suggestions on what to do?

**drama queen:** god no I’m the worst at pranks. you should ask my friend cecil. or the stoll brothers, they’re like the masters.

**ghost king:** yeah i’ve heard of them. percy knows them well

**drama queen:** is it okay if I come sit with you tomorrow?

**ghost king:** you mean with lunch?

**drama queen:** yes

**ghost king:** yeah that’s okay. be prepared for a lot of questions from my friends, though. if something happens, i can’t say i didn’t warn you.

 

They talk until late at night. Will falls asleep with his phone next to him plugged in and Nico’s face on his mind.

 

*****

*****

 

The next day, Nico arrives at their usual table with Will. Annabeth, Hazel and Piper are already eating their lunch.

“Hey guys,” Nico greets. Will sits down beside him. “This is Will.”

“Is this the guy from the table in French?” Annabeth curiously looks at Will. “I didn’t know you discovered who it was.”   
“I did, actually. But I wasn’t the first who met Will,” Nico says. He points at Hazel and Piper. “You should ask those two for more information.” He smirks when Piper’s eyes widen and Hazel begins to stutter.

“We wanted to tell you, I swear! We just--”

Piper interrupts her. “I just thought it would be funny?” She finishes her sentence as if it’s a question.

“Do you know how frightened I was when you saw me writing on the table?” Will laughs. “I thought you were going to announce to all the students what I was doing. That would have been  _ so  _ embarrassing.”

“We would have never done that,” Piper swears. Hazel nods enthusiastically.

“But why didn’t you tell us?” Annabeth asked. “I mean, I get why you didn’t tell Nico and Will, but you could have told me.”

“Or me,” Percy says. He places his tray next to Annabeth’s, while Jason plops down next to Piper Franks gestures at Nico to move over so he can sit next to Hazel. “What are we talking about? Also, who are you?” He looks at Will.

“I’m Will Solace,” he says. “The guy from the table in Nico’s French class.”

“That was you?” Jason exclaims. “Oh my gods, that’s amazing.”

“What’s amazing?” Leo asks when he arrives at the table. Percy looks at him.

“Did you know that Will is the guy Nico was writing to?” He says it like he has just discovered the cure for cancer.

“No way,” Leo gasps. Nico just rolls his eyes and glances at Will, who seems to try his hardest not to laugh at this ridiculous conversation.

“Yep, that’s me. Also, am I really that bad of a drawer?” he asks. Everyone just quickly glances at each other.

“Well, to be fair, it did look suspiciously like a glove,” Leo defends.

“You’re so blind. That was obviously a cactus,” Piper says. Annabeth nods.

“It was obviously a cactus, I can’t believe we’re actually this discussion,” she says.

“I’m still on team ‘it could be both’,” Hazel says with a mouthful of pasta.

Percy places his elbows on the table and leans forward. “Like I said, it was a glove with ice and spikes from a cactus. My artistic interpretation was the best.”

“Your artistic interpretation my ass,” Nico mutters.

“I hate to break it to you, Perce, but you are not really what people call artistic,” Jason says. He gestures with his fork at Hazel. “She’s more like it.”

“Et tu, bro?” Percy gasps.

Frank laughs. “Don’t be such a drama queen, Percy.”

At those words, Nico and Will lose it, while the others are staring at them as if they’re mad. “You shouldn’t have said it like that,” Nico manages to get out between fits of laughter

 

“Damn, are you guys always this noisy?” Will asks once everyone has calmed down.

Hazel shrugs. “Sometimes. You should see Piper when Thalia is around. The sarcastic level hits a maximum.”

‘Nico and Reyna are the worst. When they’re together, they make the most awful puns,” Jason says. “He has stolen my best friend from me.”

Percy puts his hand on his chest. “Dude. I thought I was your best friend!”

“I am not even your best friend. Grover is. Why are you making such a big deal out of this?” Jason asks.

“I don’t know who all those people are,” Will whispers to Nico.   
“I know it’s hard to keep up. I will try and explain who everyone is, but it will be difficult,” Nico tells him.

  
  


A couple of minutes later, the bell rings. Nico is sad that lunch is over, because now he and Will have separate classes so he can’t see him anymore. Although he’s only known Will for a day, it feels like much longer. They have been writing on that table for two weeks, so it kind of makes sense.

“What subject do you have now?” Will asks when they exit the cafeteria.

“Maths. Not my favourite subject ever,” Nico grumbles. He doesn’t like maths. It’s confusing and difficult and he doesn’t know what all those buttons on his calculator stand for.

“Good luck, then. I’ll see you around?” Will asks.

Nico nods and hitches his backpack higher on his shoulder. “Yes. Actually, I was wondering if you ever… You know, if you ever wanted to, uh, hang out?”

Will’s smile brightens. “Yes, that would be cool!” Then he grins mischievously. “But can it be more like a date?”

“Yes!” Nico blushes and ducks his head so his hair hides his red cheeks. “I’d like that.”

“Good. See ya later, di Angelo!” Will takes the stairs to the third floor. Nico watches as he walks away. Then he realises he’s standing still in a crowded hallway. He quickly turns around and makes his way to his classroom, but before he disappears he sees how Jason gives him a thumbs up. Nico rolls his eyes and ignores him.

He has a date! With Will Solace! He would have never thought he could actually accomplish that.

 

Nico smiles and suddenly he is very happy that he decided to respond to those weird drawings on his table weeks ago. His life would have been very different, had he not done that.

  
  


_ you don’t have to say i love you to say i love you _

_ forget all the shooting stars and all the silver moons _

_ we’ve been making shades of purple out of red and blue _

_ sickenly sweet, like honey, don’t need money _

_ all i need is you _

_ all i need is you _

_ \-- troye sivan, for him. -- _

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a kudos/comment if you liked it.  
> Also, I don't hate geography. In fact, I rather like it. But Will had to hate a subject and so I chose this one. An apology to all geography teachers out there lol.  
> See you next time :D


End file.
